We go out to the open countryside on winter days, so we combine and shorten our prayers, and we perform tayammum (dry ablution with clean earth) even though water is available. What is the ruling on our prayers?

Question:
May Allah reward you and bless you. Honorable Shaykh, a questioner says: We go out to the open countryside on winter days, but we combine and shorten our prayers, and we also perform tayammum even though water is available. Are our prayers valid?

Answer:
As for shortening and combining, they are permissible for the traveler. If the distance between your town and the place you are going to for a leisure trip is eighty kilometers or more, and you have intended to travel that distance, then it is permissible for you to combine and shorten because you are travelers. As for tayammum, it is permissible in two cases. The first case is if you do not find water. The second case is if you find water but are unable to use it due to illness or severe cold. In that case, it is permissible for you and for others to perform tayammum. Yes.